


Summer Melody

by Stacy_Adler



Category: Slam Dunk
Genre: F/M, First Love, Romance, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-27
Updated: 2020-05-28
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:01:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 6,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23351368
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stacy_Adler/pseuds/Stacy_Adler
Summary: [Melody Series # 1] Fujii Koizumi didn't know that bad boys could also be sweet like honey. Yohei Mito, the quintessential bad boy, had a lot to teach her. What could result from this dangerous combination? [Cover: Lady Yomi]
Relationships: Fujii & Mito Youhei
Kudos: 5





	1. I'll never be like that

**Author's Note:**

> Hey there! :)  
> First of all, I want to introduce myself: I'm Stacy Adler, 32 years old. And since I'm from Chile, my primary language is spanish. And, although I'm bilingual, speaking and writing in english are things very different. So, this fanfic will have writing mistakes, which I apologize for in advance. But, because I love this hobby, I tried to learn some grammar rules when translated this fanfic. If some of you want to correct a mistake, I'm all ears! :D
> 
> Talking about this fanfic, well, I kindly want to make this clear just in case: it is mine. I wrote it, and decided to translate it to english long time ago, but now "thanks" to the situation we are facing worldwide, I finally had the time LOL
> 
> Regarding to some "japanese slang", I will keep the honorific suffixes because they are a vital part of the japanese communication, but specially because they can't be translated. Thanks to them, you can infer the level of intimacy that two characters have.  
> But it ends there. Nothing of "onii-san", for example. Just honorific suffixes and food, of course.
> 
> The chapters are this short on purpose, that's why I'll upload the complete fanfiction very shortly.
> 
> By last, I want to thank the staff of , because they heard my petition and now it's possible to choose Fujii as a character when upload a fanfic. Thank you, guys!
> 
> And thanks, thanks in advance to all the readers that will enjoy this innocent story. In spanish I've been publishing this series (actually two, a third in process) since february of last year, that's why Fujii and Yohei are a surprisingly popular ship. I love them together! And my compatriot Salvamakoto, a very good cartoonist, has made several draws of them. You can find them in my instagram (stacy_adler_ff). Follow me! :D
> 
> Love and happiness for all.
> 
> Stacy Adler.

_"You are Haruko-chan's friend, right? Hi. My name is Yohei Mito."_

.

.

It was a hot afternoon. The Shohoku school basketball team was training hard, preparing to attend the National Championship; a dream that the current captain, Takenori Akagi, planned to fulfill at any cost.

Shohoku had quite peculiar players. Among them, the most recent acquisition, Hanamichi Sakuragi, practiced the basic movements of that amazing sport with the kind of face typical in someone that wants to commit suicide, or at least, kill his closest rival: Kaede Rukawa.

In addition, both to see the latter and to support the boys, Captain Akagi's younger sister -a beautiful little girl named Haruko- went daily to witness the practices with her two best friends: Fujii and Matsui.

While Matsui was a suspicious, skeptical, and _sometimes_ funny girl, Fujii had a frightening shyness about the male gender that put her in serious trouble when it came to relating. It was hard for her to understand how Haruko managed to talk to so many "dangerous" boys without dying in the attempt.

"There is nothing dangerous about them," objected the youngest of the Akagi. "Although Sakuragi-kun looks violent, he is actually a _very sweet_ boy."

Fujii trembled hard every time it was her turn to hear something like that. She couldn't imagine falling like Haruko, head over heels in love with a tall, bully-looking boy, and she was completely sure she wouldn't go through with something like that. However, the summer decided to teach Fujii a very special lesson: "what goes around comes around".


	2. Why?

"M-my… my name is Fujii Koizumi."

.

.

She had already seen Sakuragi's friends several times watching his practices and yelling all sorts of friendly expletives at him. No matter how many times Haruko told her they weren't dangerous, she still feared them as the first day she introduced them to her. However, among the four ruffians there was one who left a very different impression on her: Yohei Mito. He had dark hair and eyes like a cloudy night, his features were pleasant, harmonious, his voice low, even his height was more reasonable, far from looking like a mountain like Akagi, Sakuragi, or even Rukawa.

When Haruko officiated the introductions, Fujii hid behind her back and muttered a shy greeting. None of the boys paid any more attention to her and continued to encourage Sakuragi in their own way: with shouts and more outbursts of all kinds. They didn't trust the boy to last more than a few days at the basketball club, but his friend had surprised them by spending one week on uninterrupted practice.

Yohei, with the school bag attached to his back, was watching standing unlike the rest of his friends who were crouched, disturbing Sakuragi by the ventilation slits on the sides of the large entrance door, which is why Haruko mentioned him separately. Fujii, still trembling slightly, shuddered to receive a smile from Yohei and then the greeting, which she replied in a voice even more tremulous than her legs.


	3. I don't know

"Oh god, it's raining..."

Although it wasn’t uncommon in the Japanese climate, Fujii did not even think about bringing an umbrella to school that day when she left his parents' house early. Haruko was in a special class, Matsui was already gone… the only alternative she had left was to carry a bag over her head and pray not to catch a cold on the way home. Despite being in the middle of summer, the weather could not be trusted.

She sighed. Her short hair drained water quickly as she poked her head a few inches to see how thick the rain was falling. Gross mistake.

Timidly she put one of her feet forward. She remembered how unpleasant it was to feel the soggy socks splashing inside her shoes and she swallowed. It didn't matter what she did, she better run to get to the nearest bus stop sooner.

"Fujii-san?"

She turned in the direction of the voice, which reminded her of something, but did not quite know what... and found Yohei Mito watching her amused a few meters further, protected by a huge umbrella.

“I'm gonna die!” She thought as he approached her.

"Mito-kun...”

"Is it my idea or you didn't bring something to cover yourself with?" Fujii replied, shaking her head abruptly. “Luckily, I saw you! Come on, I have to work, but I have plenty of time. Where do I leave you?”

She opened her mouth to respond... and her gaze stayed on the tender, slanted eyes of that boy with a reputation of being violent.

That was the day Fujii _first saw_ Yohei.


	4. But you're right

They walked in silence through the soggy streets of Kanagawa for a long time. Fujii gripped the bag tightly with both hands, which she carried forward to protect her legs from the harsh rain, wondering if Haruko felt that way every time she saw Rukawa: as if her chest was going to explode from the throbbing bomb in which her heart had become, which used to be quite dumb.

"Are you and Haruko-chan friends since long ago?"

The sound of his deep voice, so ordinary before, so musical now, catalyzed a new surge of pressure. She blushed very quickly.

"Since high school, along with Matsui," she managed to reply, mastering the involuntary tremor in her voice. “And ... Sakuragi-kun and you ...?” She couldn't finish the question.

"From kindergarten. We met the others in high school, didn't you hear about us before?” He laughed softly. “We were _thugs_ from Wakou High School.”

A strangled moan escaped Fujii, because she had already been warned about that group of juvenile delinquents. It was very, very scary.

“Don’t put that face!” said Yohei amused, with his eyes on her alert expression. “We really aren't that bad. Hanamichi is usually the most impatient of us and we have to control him when he goes crazy. We've had incredible fights because of him!”

The girl did not take her eye off him. How could she know if the tightness in her chest was due to the fear of imagining him fighting, or because of the sweet sound of coming from his laughter?


	5. Though it’s scary

After a five-minute walk, Fujii finally spotted the bus stop she was looking for. A part of her was very grateful to Yohei for lending her his company; if it hadn't been for him, she would have ended up drenched from head to toe, which was quite unpleasant considering she still had a long way to go to get to her house. She walked thinking about how good that hot bath on her skin would feel, which was already burning... No, _better_ warm water. She didn’t want to catch fire by adding fuel to the fire. And _that_ took her to the other part of her brain, the one that kept her shivering with both emotion and fear for the company she never imagined having.

"Fuji-san!"

"What?" She thought.

Too distracted to notice the speeding vehicle, Fujii was unable to pull away from the wave of water that had risen to completely soak her. There she lost all her plans to get home more or less entirely! She closed his eyes and mouth tightly.

But nothing happened.

She dared to look a little then, barely opening her eyelids.

Then she understood why she was not soaked: Yohei had positioned himself in front of her to receive the unpleasant dip. She couldn’t believe it.

"Shit, what was that idiot thinking? I’m sure he did it on purpose!” Muttered the boy, who had used the umbrella to protect his face from the water mainly because he didn't like having his hairstyle _undone_. “Are you okay Fujii-san?”

She didn’t know what to respond. Her chest rumbled even more than before.


	6. And you...

"What am I going to do now? This is all my fault…”

Fujii didn't even dare look at him. Coupled with shame, the fear that he might be mad at her, and her own wild pounding kept her completely speechless for a few seconds.

But Yohei ended up smiling at her, and that managed to calm her down a bit when she dared, after several failed attempts, to raise her face a little to see him.

"S-sorry, Mito-kun!" She looked at him again, now with more attention. “You are soaked, and on top of that you have to work...”

"It’s okay, I still have spare clothes there," he replied.

His smile was teasing and challenging. She supposed that very smile was how he provoked many of his rivals, who probably never noticed the hidden warmth in his eyes. But Fujii did. Of course she did. And that made her feel much worse.

"Thank you... Hmmm...," the bus was about to arrive. “I have to go, excuse me,” she finished with a bow.

"See you later, Fujii-san!" He waved goodbye.

Already installed in the vehicle, the girl sighed long with her eyes closed. What was all of _that_? It was the first time that a boy had caught her eye like that. She didn't know what to do with those strange feelings; she leaned his face against the window, now watching the road. Raindrops pounded on the glass, making her recall over and over again what had happened just a few minutes ago. How was she going to look him in the face every time they were going to meet at a basketball team practice?


	7. Aren't you scared?

Like every afternoon, Haruko took her two best friends to witness what she called "The Road to the National Championship," but Matsui and Fujii knew perfectly well that it was not just supporting her brother and Sakuragi, but seeing Rukawa up close and continue her fantasy that he would notice her one day, and maybe after that...

"Hello, girls!" The four members of the Sakuragi's Army greeted cheerfully. "How's the practice going? Hanamichi already lost his patience?" Noma added, laughing in advance.

"Shut up, you idiot!" Sakuragi spat a few meters further. No one knew how he had heard.

"He's a little frustrated," Yohei said very quietly, to keep him from hearing them talk about him again. "Last night he almost couldn't sleep."

Haruko asked for more details, but at that moment, Rukawa came to the gym and she forgot everything around. Her eyes looked like two hearts following the tall, quiet young man who never manifested emotions except when playing basketball.

"How did you get to your house _that day_ , Fujii-san?" Yohei asked, momentarily setting aside his best friend.

She winced shyly at hearing her name again on that boy's lips.

"Fine, thanks to you... To your intervention, I mean," she clarified hastily.

She wasn't going to admit that she spent about an hour under the stream of water trying to control her heart rate, that was still freaking out long after saying goodbye to him.

Yohei nodded with his usual buffoonish expression, then focused on Sakuragi and his attempts to conquer Haruko by becoming a basketball player.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! :)
> 
> I want to thank the good reception of this humble fanfiction. If you liked the chapter, let me know with a comment. I will be happy to receive all your love!
> 
> I have two accounts on social networks, don't forget to follow me: D
> 
> Facebook: stacyadlerfiction
> 
> Instagram: stacy_adler_ff
> 
> There I will be uploading the illustrations that the wonderful Salvamakoto draws for this fic, since the Fuhei (XD) pairing practically does not exist on the internet.
> 
> Love and happiness for everyone.
> 
> Stacy Adler.


	8. I admire you

"What are you looking at so much, Fujii?" Asked the youngest of the Akagi family.

She had been scrutinizing her friend for a while, who seemed not to take her eyes off the court. Haruko tried to follow the direction of her gaze, but the only thing she found beyond that were Hanamichi's friends. They had changed positions and now they were teasing him from above by throwing streamers at him every time the poor redhead missed a shot, which was very frequent.

Haruko knew that Fujii was terrified of those boys, so it took her a long time to conclude that she was suffering the same _illness_ than she: a teenage crush. Haruko had seen her hallucinated face too many times in the reflections of the windows not to identify it in Fujii, although she seemed between frightened and delighted, unlike her, that she used to look flushed as if she had run a marathon.

Haruko was an extremely distracted girl with herself and with circumstances that directly involved her, but she had a highly developed clinical eye in other situations, so when she discovered Fujii's _condition_ , she decided to help her in any way she could. Maybe Rukawa would never notice her, but her friend would be happy no matter what. Also, Sakuragi's friends were all good boys. She had no doubt that none of them would make her suffer.

Haruko smiled to herself. Only remained to find out which of them was Fujii's romantic interest.


	9. But...

“Could it be Ookusu-kun, with his blond hair? Or maybe she likes Noma-kun's mustache? Perhaps he prefers solid boys like Takamiya-kun…?”

The truth was that Haruko did not think of Yohei as a candidate because, in her opinion, he was the one who could give Fujii the most fear. She knew very well the reasons why she was so shy and suffered from so much stage fright, especially with _bad boys_ , so she was leaving Yohei aside in her deductions.

She was wrong, of course. Knew it as soon as the boy with a provocative expression moved away from the other three young people, and Fujii didn’t take her eyes off him. At the same time, it seemed as if her face was going to explode in a round of fireworks.

“Yohei-kun? Incredible!"

What would she have seen in him to be so captivated?

Haruko bit her lower lip, and did not change her face when Fujii emerged from the spell she had been trapped in.

“What…?” She murmured without completing the sentence.

In response, Haruko glanced at Yohei and then returned to her, still biting her lip. She further increased the effect of the accusation by repeatedly wagging her perfect eyebrows.

“Oh!” Fujii felt trapped. As if she had been caught doing something very, very bad.


	10. I can't get my hopes up

"Mito-kun?" Really, Fujii?" Matsui put a hand to her head.

The three friends decided to discuss the matter in a cafeteria near Shohoku High School, because not for all the tea in China they would talk _that_ with boys around the corner.

Haruko perceived the matter as beautiful and romantic, but Matsui was more practical; she couldn't imagine Fujii dating Yohei. What were they going to talk about? What were they going to do together? Did they even have anything in common? She couldn't fit such a thing in her skull if she couldn't even understand Haruko's crush on Rukawa, of an absurdity without dimensions for her.

"Don't be mean, Matsui, we don't choose who we fall in love with," Haruko objected.

"B-but I'm not _in love_!" Fujii barely managed to raise her voice enough to be heard. "He… I am struck by a little bit, that's all. He's kind of… _interesting_."

"Oh, it's perfect! Yohei-kun is a very good boy, you'll see that everything goes well." Haruko saw it all in bubblegum pink.

Matsui, however, sighed, stirring her ice cream cup so as not to expose the reasons that made her see the whole situation as a fatal failure. She knew the story of her friend and that tragedy that almost cost her sanity, that's why it seemed even more incredible...

"I'm not going to pretend I understand this, but I support you, my friend. As long as you don't get like Haruko," she said, pointing at the aforementioned with a sharp look.

"Do I get like _what?_ "

Fujii broke free with a few laughs. Her friends were the best in the universe.


	11. What if I fail you?

Fujii loved going up to the roof of the school. The mere fact of feeling the warm, dry air in her lungs; closing her eyes and pretending she could fly was something that always managed to lift her spirits when the memories attacked her tranquility.

That morning was no different. As soon as she opened the door leading to the rooftop, she took a deep breath to fill her rib cage with life and sunshine. Simple, real. Revitalizing.

"Hello Fujii-san!"

Inspiration caught in her throat as she recognized Yohei Mito's voice greeting her with the same fun intonation as ever. She opened her eyes, searching for him, and found him leaning against the metal railing smoking a cigarette.

Warning: _dangerous_ boy. _Bad_ boy.

"Mito-kun," replied the girl. “ _That_ … is a bad habit,” she managed to express with some disapproval, pointing a finger at the stinking cigarette.

Yohei looked at the object of the discord a little incredulously. Then he shrugged, putting it out and throwing it over the railing.

“Better?”

His arrogant expression, habitual in him, could not overshadow a growing amusement that spread like a tide through her dark eyes.

Fujii quickly nodded.

Silence.

The girl began to observe Yohei's silhouette with as much concealment as possible, wondering what was in him that caught her attention so much. She was not offended by Matsui's skepticism, since she herself couldn’t explain the strange need she felt to be by his side, to hear him speak, to scrutinize his tender gaze and his challenging smile. Bad boys scared her instead of arousing her curiosity. She _really_ didn’t know what to do.


	12. Or do I lose myself?

"You've been fighting," said the shy girl.

The evidence was one of Yohei's cheeks that seemed to have the shadow of a recent blow, albeit slight compared to other injuries Fujii had witnessed in those days that she wished to forget.

She soon realized that the comment had been made out loud. She flushed furiously, wishing she could get under the ground. Lastly, who was she to be fixated on those things?

Yohei gently patted the injured cheekbone with his fingertips. It hardly hurted anymore, unlike when he was punched. Few people managed to make him dizzy and his last rival had enough ability to leave him seeing stars for a few seconds, until he managed to recover and return the blow multiplied by three. He was lucky, because Takamiya, Noma and Ookusu had ended up very bruised, while he took a bruise on his face and another one on his ribs, at most.

“It was nothing. Just some idiots who didn't stop when they should.” He shrugged again with a resigned gesture and ran his hand through his hair to tidy it up a bit. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

"Hmmm... I..."

He frowned slightly. Her cautious reactions to him were common, but he couldn't deny that he was a little tempted to know the reason behind that shyness.

"I'd love to know what you're thinking," he continued, speaking in a friendly, if distracted, tone.

Frightened, the short-haired girl took a few steps back. She didn’t know how to respond to that statement, and many question marks seemed to be dancing over Yohei's head. Poor thing, he didn't understand anything.

And honestly, neither did she.


	13. You are different

Yohei swallowed, grimacing next. The taste of blood still clung to his mouth; he wished he hadn't put out his cigarette, at least the tobacco was quite concealing the unpleasant metallic taste that wouldn't go away in less than a couple of hours. He thought about lighting another, but Fujii's presence held him back. Normally he wouldn't have cared, however, he found himself wishing she didn't dislike him. No idea why. There was something in her calm and quiet presence that was beginning to catch his attention.

Perhaps what surprised him most was that she continued to accompany him despite the evident fear that he could see in her chocolate orbs.

Yohei was very aware of his reputation as a bad and troubled boy, used to being shunned a bit by his classmates and, unlike Hanamichi, he had never mustered the courage to declare himself to some girl, mainly because he didn’t lose his head for none, and also because imagining his friends celebrating a rejection made him quite nervous.

Yes, he knew he was a threat to boys because of his great combat skills, but he would never put a single finger on a woman. He was tempted to make that clarification to Fujii, to see if with that she stopped looking at him with so much fear.

"Mito-kun, you have blood on your lip."

It was true. He had been biting his mouth without realizing it, lost in his reflections, which managed to reopen a wound. He released his lower lip from the imprisonment of his teeth; immediately, he prepared one of his sleeves to clean himself.

"Wait," Fujii stopped him, "I have a scarf."

"It ain't necessary."

"Neither keeping dirtying your clothes..."

Yohei raised an eyebrow, making Fujii see that her brain-mouth filter had gone bad again. But he was amused by the comment, so he ended up smiling broadly at her without remembering the wound he was about to clean.

“You're right. May l…?” He held out a hand to accept the girl's offer.

Fujii felt her cheeks burn hotter by the second, beating the rampant beat of her heart that reminded her again of how it felt to hear it throb throughout his body. She slowly parted her lips, breathing only from the habit of doing so, because there was no oxygen that could help her completely fill her lungs at the time. She handed him the handkerchief, which she could barely get out of her skirt pocket, cushioning the trembling in her hand as much as possible.

"What are you so afraid of?" Yohei asked, squeezing her fingers a little, as he took the soft piece of white cloth engraved with the initials "F.K." in round, feminine calligraphy.

If she had been able to string together a few coherent sentences, she would have, but Fujii found herself speechless after that comment. She breathed in breathlessly, wishing never to forget the rough, firm touch of his hand. Muttering a clumsy apology, she ran out the roof door. It was embarrassing to escape like that, but she really saw no choice.

Yohei froze holding the handkerchief in midair. Just like Haruko, he was also not very alert when it came to understanding the situations that directly involved him when it wasn't about fighting.


	14. And so am I

Several days after leaving Yohei's handkerchief, he and Fujii met again at a basketball team practice.

Hanamichi was in a great mood, as he was practicing new techniques with his newest friend, Ryota Miyagi. Haruko was looking at them with hopeful eyes since Rukawa had not yet arrived to distract her, and Matsui, next to her, stood with her usual cryptic face.

Fujii hid behind Haruko so as not to have to look at Yohei directly. She was dying of embarrassment at her behavior on the roof and was terrified that he decided to give her his handkerchief in front of the girls. What she could not avoid was looking at him squarely; he wore his hair lustrous than she remembered —perhaps with a different gel— and his smile seemed more authentic.

Suddenly she saw him move. She looked away quickly, praying he hadn't caught her watching him.

"See you later, Haruko-chan," he announced, turning to leave.

"Are you leaving, Yohei-kun?" asked Haruko.

"Yes, I have to work today."

"It seems that Sakuragi-kun is really dedicated to basketball," affirmed the youngest of the Akagi family. "His performance against Ryonan was so good that he didn't seem like a rookie at all. He's very skillful!"

"Tell him yourself. Sure that Hanamichi will be very happy if you do." He finished walking away, waving a hand.

He took one last look at Fujii, who was still hiding. He sighed laughing.

No sooner had he reached the corner than he ran into a huge group of thugs who seemed to be walking toward the gym. He chided them, earning himself a quick punch in the face that nearly knocked him over. He managed to defend himself with his bag from a strong kick and was taken by four of the members to another place, while they explained that he had nothing to do there. He followed them worried about Hanamichi and the girls, but needed to know what they were up to before return.

In the gym no one suspected what was about to begin. Fujii, who had not stopped looking in the direction Yohei left, was the first to notice the dangerous men stomping toward them.

"Haruko!" She exclaimed, shaking her by the arm.

The three girls ran into the gym and hugged each other trembling, because the look of the thug who was in front warned them not to try anything funny.

.

.

**Hi everyone! :)**

**I have two accounts on social networks, don't forget to follow me: D**

**Facebook: stacyadlerfiction**

**Instagram: stacy_adler_ff**

**There I will be uploading the illustrations that the wonderful Salvamakoto draws for this fic, since the Fuhei (XD) pairing practically does not exist on the internet.**

**Love and happiness for everyone.**

**Stacy Adler.**


	15. Gimme strength

"You must take off your shoes to get in here," Kogure ordered as firmly as he could.

Miyagi tried to stop him before he got into trouble. He was about to shoot himself out of the anxiety of seeing those guys stomping around his beloved surroundings, sharing space with his peers, and so dangerously close to his beloved Ayako.

A couple of meters further, Haruko, Fujii and Matsui were still holding each other, the first two trembling with fear, the last one more serene, as was usual in her character. They saw the brash red-haired boy challenging them all, and there was no doubt that a tragedy was coming. The strangers were not going to dialogue, that was crystal clear, their only objective was to cause destruction.

"Please, Mitsui," Miyagi murmured, not taking his eyes off the desecrated floor with cigarette ashes. “At the hospital they forbade me to get into fights again. I beg you: forget what happened.”

But Mitsui didn't give a shit about Miyagi's request. He was so resentful of basketball, his most loved—and hated—sport, that he only thought about how to finish them and enjoy each one of the blows he gave, feast on the blood they were going to spill on the ground, burst all the balls he find and leave them in such a deplorable state that they could not even appear for the qualifiers for the National Championship… well, _that_ only if the school allowed them to participate after knowing how (according to the version that Mitsui would tell) the team cowardly attacked them and they, poor things, had to defend themselves. Having verbalized their main objective, a pitched battle began between the thugs and the team members. As Fujii feared, the atmosphere was soon plagued by dark energy with a scent of blood, pain, and feelings that were difficult to understand. Haruko cried in the greatest possible silence due to the beating that Rukawa had been given, who after received several times a stick on the head, soon ended up passed out from the excessive loss of vital fluid... causing Haruko to pass out as well a couple of times. Matsui watched the moment Ryota went insane after Ayako received a hard slap from one of the crooks; her skeptical face changed for a slightly more concerned one. And when Mitsui and the one called Tetsuo hinted that Ayako could give them _some fun_ , Fujii felt like she was about to accompany Haruko with her hysterical blackout. When the massacre began, she was terrified, but now she felt that panic was going to make her head and chest explode. Unintentionally, she started calling Yohei Mito with her mind, as if she could get him to appear to help them with the strength of her mind. Hanamichi had been smashed face-first into the door. He seemed to be quite alright despite of the beating, but he wasn’t going to be able to face alone all the enemies that were starting to surround him.

Fujii closed her eyes and prayed desperately.

“Come back... Please, Mito-kun, we _really_ need you!”

When she opened them, it was as if a miracle had been unleashed in the gym: Yohei was there with his friends. The entire "Sakuragi’s Army" prepared and ready for action.


	16. I need you with me

Fujii barely managed to stay on her feet because of the relief she felt to see him there. She was fully confident that Yohei could end all of that dreadful massacre, but as the battle unfolded again, mixed feelings seized her. She didn't want him to keep fighting, afraid to see the thug that everyone trashtalk... but even more afraid that he would get hurt.

She covered her mouth with one hand, observing that terrible _wild side_ that her friends warned about. The stories about his quarrels at Wakou, passed on by word of mouth throughout Shohoku High School, fell short of what she was witnessing.

Yohei hit Mitsui hard over and over again, encouraging him to get up every time he stayed on the ground for more than a second. His knuckles were bleeding from his right hand, he had recent blow marks on his face, and his hair, always well ordered, showed _action_ that she had no opportunity to see since he looked quite messy from the moment he arrived.

Fujii, concerned about his well-being, looked at him like she never did before. She put her feelings aside momentarily to scrutinize him with all her attention, realizing that he wasn't enjoying hitting Mitsui. She swallowed hard. Yohei wasn’t the beast everyone commented on, it was pretty obvious to anyone who stopped long enough to analyze the facts.

Mitsui caught his breath suddenly and punched Yohei hard in the face, who staggered back.

"Do you want to die _so badly_?" He murmured after regaining his balance, rubbing his battered chin.

He returned the punch to Mitsui, further injuring the knuckles of his hand, which had been bleeding since he faced Norio Hotta and his friends all by himself. At that moment Captain Akagi made an appearance and a new wave of hope spread through the gym. Those involved began to talk to each other; thanks to that, they learned that Mitsui was a valuable basketball player until two years ago, but he left due to a knee injury. Suddenly, coach Anzai entered the gym and appeased the former player with his mere presence on the spot.

Haruko, who had already woken up from her last blackout, was moved to tears by the story. Matsui remained completely calm, and Fujii kept track of Yohei with her chocolate eyes... gaping as she was all that time on the gym. She was afraid of him and the way he fought, so calmly, so much self-control. She had learned that this type of person was very dangerous and avoided them like the plague, but he was the boy she liked, and he had never acted like that with Haruko, Matsui or herself. In fact, those friends who warned her about the bad reputation of those first-year students explained that they fought with anyone who challenged them, but only men. He was very different from the one who slapped Ayako. She bit her thumb. At that very moment, Fujii didn't know whether to listen to her mind or her heart, which were screaming in completely opposite directions.

But when Yohei blamed himself for everything that happened in the gym so they didn't suspend the basketball team, forcing the others to join in with a pair of murderous glances, all of her resentments quickly faded and had no doubt that he was a very sweet and gentle young man, even if he tried hard to maintain that reputation as a gang member. She admired him like never before. And believed that, perhaps, that was why she liked him without knowing him well enough: because she could sense the goodness that was hidden behind the facade of a dangerous boy that he seemed to like to have.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Love and happiness for everyone.  
> Stacy Adler.


	17. Don't go away

She accompanied the gang to the infirmary, following them at a safe distance because she didn’t dare to be questioned as to why she was there. She stood spying on them in a corner, so she knew that the last one to get medical attention was going to be Yohei, since apparently he looked less hurt than the rest of those involved; Hanamichi and Rukawa had stitches on their heads, and the others had bruises of varying severity. Behind a column, Fujii swallowed repeatedly, encouraging herself.

Yohei, on the other hand, was left alone in the infirmary for a while. His friends were being lectured at that moment by the teachers' board, and from what he heard, they would be suspended for only three days for misbehavior. He rolled his gaze upward with a sigh of relief. The punishment had been much less serious than initially feared, that meant his father wouldn’t scold him as much.

He tried to stretch his neck a little. He was sitting in the only chair in the room, quite comfortable, but still his body was very tense; it seemed that facing the Hotta gang alone had taken a toll on him, not to mention the repeated blows he dealt to Mitsui and the injuries from a previous battle that had not yet completely disappeared. If he wanted to fight again, he was going to have to take a break.

He sighed for the umpteenth time staring at the ceiling, which seemed to have more answers than his own head.

It was at this point that Fujii quickly snuck into the room. Visibly nervous, this time it was not because of Yohei but because of the stress she had experienced in the last half hour. She approached him with slow steps, wringing her hands at her lap. For some reason, Yohei was not surprised to see her there.

"Those idiots didn’t hurt you, right, Fujii-san?" He asked looking at her. “Sorry, I forgot to ask you when I got to the gym with the others.”

She shook her head, then turned back to check that the door was still closed as she had left it.

“How… do you feel?” Her blush level grew like foam.

"Hitted, but no more than other times," he replied with a sweet smile.

Fujii looked at him with moistened eyes. She wanted to thank him for helping them all, for bearing the weight and blame for what happened, even apologizing for calling him _violent_ without having seen him in action before, but the words did not come out. It couldn't be helped.

In order to avoid showing up her nerves, she looked for disinfectant and adhesive surgical points with the intention of healing his knuckles. Then, once she got what she needed, began her work of cleaning the wounds so that they would not be contaminated. 

"You are good at this," Yohei said, somewhat surprised.

“In fact, very good. It doesn't even hurt anymore,” he thought, watching her grab his right hand. After a minute, he concluded that she should have experience in disinfecting lacerations due to the way she moved the gauze and put the surgical points in place.

"Have you ever thought about becoming a nurse?" He added, intending to flatter her.

Fujii stopped, keeping Yohei's hand in hers. Then, the young man could see that rivers of tears fell down her cheeks.


	18. Are you staying for me?

**Are you staying for me?**

Yohei knew from experience that physical blows constituted damage that usually disappeared over time. Humiliations, on the other hand, were much more difficult to forget, like the pain, the betrayals and the abandonments. They clung to the mind like poison ivy and popped up when you least expected it, souring the moment.

His parents had divorced when he was little. He had an older sister who saw rarely, if ever, because she had gone to live with mom in the separation. He stayed with dad, who was always working and only worried that he would keep acceptable grades. At some point in his life, he stopped trying to gain his attention, resigning himself to the fact that his progenitor had more important things on his mind than his own son.

However, he never really felt alone, or seriously resented the division in his family, since he had Hanamichi. They had met in kindergarten and transformed into siblings, with a level of bonding that they both considered unbreakable. Hanamichi was an only child so, in a way, he and Yohei had adopted each other. They were together during the divorce of the Mito family, endured all kinds of hardships as they grew up, transformed into troubled teenagers who didn’t hesitate to clutch at anyone who provoked them, and comforted each other when Hanamichi's father died of a heart attack. That fact set the poor boy's soul on fire, who continued to dye his hair red no longer as a way to annoy his old man, but to remember that he should never feel helpless again and also a kind of posthumous tribute. Sometimes Hanamichi believed that his father could see him wherever he was. He liked to think that he made him feel proud, at least as a fighter, and then as a basketball player.

Yohei had no doubt that the few wounds his friend kept were of an intangible nature. He knew Hanamichi very well and knew that in a few days the fight with Mitsui would have been forgotten, unlike the death of his father, who would always be there. For him it was the same. Yohei received the occasional beating from his father for being a rude gang member, something that almost made him laugh to remember; however, the day her mother told him she was disappointed... that did hurt. And he never forgot it.

All that sea of reflections had a single catalyst: Fujii's silent cry, which brought him back to the present in one blow. He didn't know why, but he preferred that Norio Hotta and his henchmen kick him to the point of wearing out his shoes than to continue witnessing those endless tears. He felt helpless, unable to stop them. Why had he made her cry? Was she still scared by what happened at the gym, or some other particular reason?

Yohei watched her silently. The way her hands were sweating indicated that she had been very scared. He tried to sense some response in her body language, but got nothing.

And he wanted to know, in that instant he knew _how much_. Maybe he could figure out the real reason why she seemed to fear him that much sometimes.

.

.

**Love and happiness for everyone.**

**Stacy Adler.**


End file.
